Zegul 550

After owning about one and half year I decided to sell the Skarabee. I no longer needed it. It is a good boat but for the real sea kayaking the Shadow is better and the Shadow can take also a lot of gear for expeditions. With the Amarok as a 'daily' backup I sold the Skarabee. Only a week later I saw a Zegul 550 for sale. I didn't know much about that boat but after some internet searches it looked like a fast sea kayak that may give me the speed I had hoped for with the Skarabee. To make a long story short: here it is:

my Zegul 550

The 550 shows a long, sleek hull with low rear deck and high front deck. With the largest beam after the cockpit it has the "Swede" form. The length is not surprisingly 550 cm and the beam is 54 cm. The hull shows hard chines around the middle that smooth out to the bow and stern. The information I found claim for a fast boat that still is stable and maneuverable. As I am quite satisfied with the hard chines on the Nigel Foster boats I had confidence that this could work out well on the Zegul too.

from the Zegul folder

After some refitting of deck lines and elastics I made a short first trip. The first leg I paddled together with a club member. The Zegul tracked well and seemed fast when you wanted it. Stability was okay, no problem at all. The boat reacted good on edging and was indeed quite maneuverable on edge. Not as good as the Shadow of course but much better than e.g. the Amarok. On the second leg I was alone and I made more speed. The first results show indeed a speed of  around 9 km/h and that is certainly promising! 

my Zegul with skeg and rudder

The rudder did work well but the pedals were quite obstructive for a good foot brace. As the boat is maneuverable enough without rudder I decided to remove it. My plan is to fit a new foot brace with foot pump as this is typically a boat to make some solo trips with.